Maserati stunned on Sunday with its surprise Super Bowl ad, and the brand doesn't seem to be slowing down.
Showcasing the $66,900 Maserati Ghibli in the epic spot brought in Internet traffic that apparently crashed the site and inspired plenty of consumers to search on car sites for the model, Forbes reported.
The luxury car was also popular at Kelley Blue Book, where searches for the four-door model jumped 4,250 percent.
"It's not easy to achieve these kinds of large shifts in search activity at the brand level, so it's clear that these ads were doing something right," John Kovac, the vice president of marketing at AutoTrader, told Forbes.
The Maserati brand, which is part of the newly christened Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, plans to sell 50,000 cars next year, an ambitious scheme that would double its sales from the year before.
The company's striking Super Bowl ad featuring Oscar nominee Quvenzhané Wallis is epic in scope and unique for the way it pulls the audience into a story. The "Strike" commercial managed to memorable in a so-so year for Super Bowl ads, helping to cement Maserati's status as a luxury contender.
Timing is also on the brand's side since the auto industry has recently seen strong, stable growth as the economic slowly gets back on its feet.
"Maserati has stepped into the foyer in a major fashion," said Arthur Henry, a senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book, according to Forbes. "In years past when shoppers where tighter with their wallets, the luxury brands didn't have the impact on shoppers as they did this year, but as the economy and shopper confidence improves luxury looks to be the hot ticket item for 2014."
An entry-level Italian sedan, the Maserati Ghibli has two turbocharged V6 engine options, one of which is diesel and a first for the company, according to Jalopnik.
The model recently became available for sale and is expected to compete with such cars as the BMW 5-Series and the Jaguar XF.
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